Hood Ornament
by SnoopyGirl213
Summary: Modern AU When Arya comes home for summer vacation, she'd planned on hanging out with Jon, going to the beach, and working on their family's old car, Ice. What she got was the Waters boy invading her life. Gendrya, mentions of past Jaquen/Arya. Full summary within.


Summary: When Arya comes home for summer vacation, she'd planned on hanging out with Jon, going to the beach, and working on their family's old car, Ice. What she got was the Waters boy invading (and possibly changing) her life. Engine grease and trips to the zoo may cinch her heart, but love is tough when neither of you wants to admit your feelings. Gendrya, mentions of past Jaquen/Arya. Mentions of sex and cars, but no smut.

 **A/N: I really wish I had an explanation for this...but I don't. It's just a thing, and now it exists because of me. This is extremely loosely based on the Soul Eater fanfiction called Hood Ornament by Lueur-de-L'aube here on FFN. But she was actually ballsy enough to put the sex scenes in, while I was not.**

 **Speaking of...I'm rating this as T because of the entire work, but there is mentions of sex. Just in case that bothers you at all. (also mentions of past Jaquen/Arya)**

 **To sum it up, Arya goes to Braavosi Tech which is kinda like MIT...that is it's a super credible and amazing school to get into (or at least it is in my head). The Starks are rich, but don't ask me why they would live on the same street as Gendry if he and his mom are poorer. Bobby Baratheon is alive and kicking and probably married to Cersei and that whole plot, and he still has all his bastards, but he is only alluded to in this story. Also don't ask me why Ned Dayne and Arya would go to school together, she just needs a friend guys!**

 **I think that's all you need to know, message me if anything else doesn't make any sense, and I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

 _Take it easy driving - the life you save might be mine. - James Dean_

* * *

When Arya saw the Waters boy from across the street standing in their garage, it wasn't the first time she'd seen him shirtless. That had been when she was twelve and he was working on his motorbike in his front driveway. He'd waved at her when she walked by, and she had to stop herself from running away or staring.

She had come home from University this morning for the summer break, and she was planning on sleeping, going to the beach, and finally working on her dad's '57 Thunderbird. The car, which was dark grey and affectionately called "Ice", had been gathering dust under a tarp for the past two decades. Despite this, it was the most beautiful thing Arya had ever seen. When she was 14 she had vowed to her father that she would get it up and working again. Ned Stark had only chuckled and ruffled her hair, "If you can do that, my girl, you can have it," he'd promised with a twinkle in his eye. And Arya knew he meant it, because her father meant everything he said.

So when she came home from University that May morning, and saw the Waters boy shirtless, touching Ice, her Ice, needless to say, Arya was mad.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" she exclaimed as she ran from her brother's car. As she wretched his shoulder away from the engine, she noticed how warm and slick his skin was with sweat as well as the bull's head tattooed on his bicep.

"What the f-" the Waters boy exclaimed as he almost smashed his head on the hood as he stood up straight.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Arya barked in his face. She realized (too late) that he was at least twice her size, and could easily grind her to a pulp.

"Listen, kid-"

"I'm 20, I'm not a kid."

"Whatever, short-stuff, I'm just doing my job here, so if you could please get out-"

"'Short-stuff?!' This is _my_ car, it's _my_ job to fix it!"

"I don't see your name on it."

"I'll show you where-"

"Arya stop! Calm down!"

She felt Jon push her away from the Waters boy and she squinted her face up at him. Robb and Rickon now had their heads poking out the door to the garage.

"How did he get-"

"Your dad asked him to work on the car, now let him get back to work," Jon replied gently, guiding her away towards the door. "Sorry about her, Gendry. I'm sure she's still tired from exams."

Gender just snorted and went back to work.

Arya was fuming as Jon moved her into the house. When he closed the door, Robb immediately started laughing hysterically. Rickon joined in, and even Jon cracked a smile. Arya fumed so much she felt like her head was going to explode.

"What's so funny?!" she demanded from her older brother.

"You, squirt," Robb laughed. "You were all puffed up like a fish about to take on a submarine."

"I would've too, if Jon hadn't stopped me!"

"Awe, c'mon, Arya? You against the Waters kid? That's not even a contest."

"You don't know! I can beat you up!"

"When I let you. Anyways, just leave him alone. He has work to do, and if you fight him, I'll be the one who ends up getting into trouble." Robb ruffled her hair and started walking away.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because it always happens. Anyway, it's good to see you, dinner will be at 6:30."

"Why did Dad let him work on Ice? I told him I was gonna take care of it!"

Robb turned and looked at her once more before he turned the corner. "Yeah but that was like 6 years ago, and that car has waited for long enough." He didn't wait for her reply and headed around the corner.

"I was gonna work on the car this summer, I was!" Arya exclaimed, much quieter than out in the garage. Rickon had bolted away, back outside to play with his dog.

"I believe you," Jon nodded. "But there isn't much to be done now, Arya."

"Yes, there is, we can march back in there and kick him back across the street where he came from."

"Gendry promised he could fix it for half the cost. Plus, I suspect dad wants to help him out a bit."

"Help him out how? What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing, he just doesn't have as much going for him like you Starks. He works at a car shop, and I'm sure he would appreciate the extra money."

Arya grunted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You don't have to like it, just don't get in his way, alright? You said on the way home that you wanted to go to beach, I'm off tomorrow, why don't we go? Just the two of us." Jon was good at making things seem so much more simpler than they were. But he wasted this talent on working a deadbeat job.

"I'll think about it, I was planning on sleeping all day tomorrow," she admitted.

Jon chuckled and patted her back. "Well, let me know, I'll see you at dinner." He headed off to his own corner of the house, and Arya was left alone in the front hall.

The Waters boy had been across the street for as long as she could remember. She supposed she ought to stop calling him that, but it was a habit now. Her mom has always referred to him as "the Waters boy" as if he didn't require more of a title than that. Arya remembered him playing with Robb and Jon when they were very young, and riding his motorbike down the street. She hadn't spoken more than a dozen words to him before today, and now he was just on the other side of the house.

Dinner that night was a somewhat dull affair. Jon had been called in for a late shift, Bran was staying the night at his friend Jojen's, and so that just left Arya, Sansa, Robb, Rickon, and their parents for dinner. Arya was glad for an actual meal rather than the microwaveable substitute. Sansa rolled her eyes every time she started speaking, Robb was on his phone the whole time, Rickon was busy playing with his food, and her parents looked too tired to be there.

By the end of the night, Robb and their parents started drinking in the lounge, and Sansa didn't even bother saying hello to Arya as she went back to her room. Arya almost asked her dad to let her have one beer, but decided to be on his good side for once.

"Uh, dad?" She asked, trying to speak quietly.

"Yes, my girl?" He addressed in his deep baritone that always made her feel safe.

"About Ice-?"

"What about it?"

"Well, you had said that if I could fix it, I could have it, and..." she trailed off, biting her lip. She felt like a stupid child, begging their parents for the keys to the car.

He hmmmed and rubbed his chin. "I did say something about that didn't I."

Arya nodded.

"To be honest, Arya, I never expected you to be able to, that car needs more than a bolt tightened here or there. It may need a new engine altogether."

"Then why are you letting the Waters boy try?"

Her dad squinted at her and she gulped. "His name is Gendry, and he offered at half price. I doubt he'll be able to fix it either, but I'm willing to pay him either way."

"You'll pay him even if it doesn't work?"

Her dad shook his head and sighed. "I hope someday you'll see someone in need and finally understand. But for now, Gendry is working on the car, and you'd best stay out of his way."

"Is it because I'm a girl?" The words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them, and her dad immediately tilted his head back in a laugh.

"I bet you could make a mountain move if you tried, my girl."

Arya huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Don't be so down, Arya. There're other cars."

"But not Ice."

* * *

Arya was sure Gendry was surprised when he came into the garage the next morning. Arya was sat in a chair next to Ice, reading a magazine she stole from Sansa's room. She flicked her eyes up at him and smiled widely.

"Good morning," she practically chirped at him.

"Who shoved a bluebird in you?" He asked as he set his toolbox down.

She grinned and set the magazine in her lap. She could barely sleep last night, thinking of that Waters boy messing around with Ice, her Ice. So she decided that, if they wouldn't let her work on it, the least she could do was supervise. "I hope you don't mind if I sit here."

Gendry shrugged as he lifted the hood. "It's your house, just be quiet, please."

She nodded. "You won't even know I'm here."

This seemed to satisfy him, and he began his work on the car. A few minutes later, Arya cautiously moved next to him to watch his work. He immediately stopped and glared at her.

"Can I help you?" he grunted at her.

"You sure you want to be doing that?"

Gendry looked over his task and frowned. "Yes, I'm sure, what's wrong with it?"

"Just that, if you start-"

He blinked, obviously not expecting a real answer. "I'm sorry, are you telling me how to do my job?"

"I wouldn't say telling, more like suggesting, but-"

"And how many cars have you worked on?"

She flushed and he raised his eyebrows knowingly.

"That's what I thought," he replied as he went back to work.

"I've worked on my fair share!" Arya protested.

"Sure you have, and I'm the queen."

She squared her jaw. "I'm going to school to be an engineer! This is my calling in life!"

Gendry chuckled. "And while you're out going blind from reading so many books, I'm out here actually working on cars, machines."

"Good for you, but I don't want to settle with working on cars for the rest of my life!" she blurted.

Gendry calmly stood up to his full height, his face was placid but his eyes were narrow.

"And, what's wrong with working on cars?"

"N- nothing." Arya felt her face burn from embarrassment.

"Let's get one thing straight, short-stuff, I didn't 'settle' on working with cars. I could've gone to school and spent millions of dollars I don't have on education I won't use or I could've gone out, and started doing what I wanted to do from the start. The former might be good for you, but I love working with cars, and a girl half my size isn't going to change that. Even if she is a Stark. Now you can sit here, and be quiet or you can leave. But those are your choices."

She gulped and watched him go back to tinkering. A half hour passed and she was debating just leaving, but her pride was gluing her feet to the floor. She was determined to make nice with the Waters- with Gendry no matter what. Her opportunity came when he started groping around for a rag to wipe his hands off with. She held out the rag that had been sitting with his tools. He eyed it and then her before taking it.

He cleared his throat as he pulled his head out from underneath the hood. He looked down at he from the corner of his eye and she tried not to fidget.

"So what sort of degree are you getting?" He asked, wiping his hands on the rag.

"Mechanical," she answered, beaming. "At Bravosi Tech."

His eyebrows shot up and he chuckled. "No shit, huh, wow, Bravosi Tech, huh? Did they train you how to be an assassin?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, but I'm pretty sure I dated a guy who was one."

They shared a laugh and Gendry leaned down back down over the engine. "Shit, BTech, that's a good school, even I know that."

"What happened to 'money I don't have for education I won't use'?"

She saw him shrug underneath the hood. "It's different for you, you're a Stark."

She screwed up her face. "It's not that different."

Gendry chuckled again. "I wouldn't even have been accepted, short-stuff, much less been able to afford attending."

"They have a lot of financial aid."

Gendry shook his head. "I'm not ready to dig myself that deep yet. Besides, I wanted to get my hands dirty from the get-go."

Arya glanced at his hands. They were indeed dirty with engine grease already.

"Pass me that wrench, will you?" Gendry broke her out of her reverie and she glanced down at the wrench he was referring to. She picked it up, testing the weight of it before placing the end in his open palm.

She heard a car pull up and turned to see Jon coming back. He got out of the car and walked towards her.

"Arya," he warned. "I thought I told you to stay out of his way."

"Jon, I-"

"It's fine, Jon," Gendry said, not looking up. "She's just keeping me company."

Jon pursed his lips but let it drop.

"Robb said you went to work," Arya accused. "I thought you said it was your day off."

Jon shrugged. "Just to check up on things."

"You shouldn't go in on your days off, they'll take advantage of you, more than they already do." Arya swore she heard Gendry snort, but ignored it.

Jon shook his head. "Alright, mother. More importantly, do you wanna go to the beach or not?"

Arya bit her lip, and looked back at Gendry. He didn't even look up. "I don't see why not, I'll grab my suit."

She dashed back into the house, not looking back to see Gendry glancing at her from under the hood.

* * *

Her beach day with Jon was perfect. They collected seashells and played in the water. He took her into town and bought her ice cream. She felt like she was thirteen again and they were cutting school like they had in years past. But life was so much more complicated now. Jon had a deadbeat job, Arya was going to school out of the country, and there was a strange mechanic in their garage.

By the time they got back, Gendry wasn't in the garage and his tools were gone. Arya shrugged and headed back into the house. She was immediate pounced on by Sansa.

"You stole my copy of Westeros You, Arya! I've been worried sick looking for it all day. And it was in the garage of all places, what were you doing in there?" Arya ignored her and just kept walking towards the bathroom.

"You should leave that Waters kid alone. Dad's hired him and that's all you should know about him. He's just here to fix the car."

"Gods, Sansa, how shallow are you? This isn't Downton Abbey, he isn't 'the Help'. He's a person."

"I know he's a person, I didn't say he wasn't."

"You certainly are implying it."

"Enough!" bellowed their mother from the next room. "Sansa, you got your magazine back, Arya promise you won't take another one."

Arya grumbled out a promise and ran back into her room, slamming the door behind her. She placed the shells she and Jon had collected on her dresser in a neat row. Sighing, she sat back on the bed and rubbed her sun-bitten arms. Beaches in the North weren't particularly hot, even in the summer, but she was sure she'd burn from the amount her arms hurt. She felt sleepy from the day of swimming, and the ice cream felt good in her stomach. Arya ended up turning on the TV and falling asleep without changing.

* * *

"So, is it true that Tobho Mott is a bitch to work with?" Arya asked from her chair across the side of the garage.

She heard Gendry laugh and pull his head out of the hood. "Where did you hear that from?"

Arya shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. "I hear things."

"From who? The wind? Or maybe those wolves you're already talking about."

Arya blushed and shook her head. She knew it was a mistake to tell him what her favorite animal was. Wolves were usually chosen by furries and "edgy" 12 year olds. It could be worse though, Gendry had said his favorite was bulls. She was thirty-percent sure that was some way of compensating.

"No! I've never even seen a real wolf, and even if I had, I can't talk to them!" She defended.

"At least not sober, anyway." Gendry stuck his head back under the hood and went back to working on her beautiful Ice.

Every day since her first day back, she'd met Gendry out in the garage. He worked on Ice, and she "kept him company." At least, that was what he called it whenever someone from her family insisted she leave him alone. Arya had originally told herself she was "supervising" his work, but know she wasn't entirely sure that was right. She didn't know a lot about working on older cars, and was interested to see him try and tinker with Ice. Besides that, she genuinely liked Gendry's company. He was funny, but not in a crude way like Robb's friend Theon, or in a naive way like Jon. He simply spoke his mind, and she was, more often than not, inclined to agree with him.

"Just when do you think you're going to be done with that thing?" She asked, munching on the apple she'd brought with her out to the garage.

"Depends," he answered.

"Everything depends."

He didn't answer her, but just kept working.

"Have you really never seen a wolf?" he inquired.

She nodded. "Never in my life."

"There's a couple over at the Brandon Zoo, isn't there?"

She nodded, "I haven't been there since I was a kid though, and that was years ago."

Gendry shook his head. "Nah, you're still a kid."

"Am not!"

"Can you drink legally?"

"Well…not in Westeros I can't."

"There you go."

"I can in Braavos though!"

"This isn't Braavos, kid."

Gendry continued to tease her for another half hour until he finally packed up his tools and closed the hood. As he wiped his hands on the towel he always brought, Arya realized he hadn't taken his shirt off like he had most days. She supposed it was cooler today as compared to all the other days, but still warmer than most in the North.

"Look, since you seem to be intent on hanging around me while I'm working," Gendry commented. "I should let you know that I probably won't be here tomorrow."

"Why's that?" Arya asked, scrunching up her face at him.

"I'm meeting someone, nosy."

Arya scrunched up her face farther and crossed her arms over her chest. "You mean to say you actually have friends besides me? Surprise, surprise."

Gendry smirked and started walking towards his house. "Whoever said we were friends, short-stuff?" he tossed over his shoulder.

She frowned and tried to shake the implications of this out of her head. _He's only joking, he's only joking,_ she told herself. His comment still bothered her though. If they weren't friends, why was she wasting her time?

* * *

She huffed once again and looked through her binoculars once again. Gendry had been talking to _that girl_ for nearly twenty minutes now. He'd gotten them ice-cream from the truck that came through their neighborhood, and they sat on the curb, eating their treats. Arya just happened to be glancing out her window to see if Jon's car was still there when she saw them. She cursed the distance and grabbed her binoculars to get a better look at _her_. She had black hair and fair skin, a comely sight compared to Arya's mousy brown and sun-burnt skin. She was dressed in a low-cut shirt and short-shorts with high heels and more than a few necklaces. Arya wasn't usually one to judge women on their appearance (solidarity, and all that), but the curdling in her stomach couldn't help but make refer to this girl in the worst possible ways. If Gendry had skipped working on Ice to spend time with _her_ , he was a lot stupider than Arya had originally thought.

This new-found jealousy was making Arya confront a lot of feelings about Gendry she was not totally ready to sort out. It had been two weeks since she'd come home (and kept vigil over Gendry in Ice's hood), and it was obvious to her she was physically attracted to him. She'd chalked this up to too much time around the waif-like boys of Braavos, and the first sight of Westeros meat caused her mouth to water like…well, a wolf. But she wasn't big into pure sexual relationships, and, either way, she liked Gendry for more than just his body. He was funny, and he got her in a way few others did.

She tried not to think about that as she spied on Gendry and his female companion. Arya had noticed they were a respectable two feet apart, which she wasn't sure what to make of. Clearly they were talking to one-another, but they weren't touching or anything.

 _"Whoever said we were friends?"_ Maybe this whole thing that they had she'd read into. I mean, spending two weeks in a garage together for a few hours each day doesn't necessarily make best friends.

Finally, (not soon enough) the girl got in her car, a beat up clunker parked across the street, and drove away. Arya couldn't take it anymore. She shoved her binoculars into the dresser drawer and bolted down the stairs, out the door, and across the street. Gendry was walking his bike out of the garage when she walked (ran) up to him. He raised one eyebrow at her.

"What'd'you think you're doing?" He asked, eyeing her up and down.

Her courage was spending, but she managed to blurt out her purpose for coming. "Why didn't you just say you were skipping on work to meet a _girl_?" She had to admit that last word came out rather more accusatory than she had meant to say.

He balked just a little, but then shook her head. "I didn't skip, I cleared it with your dad first. And anyway, she isn't just some girl." He walked back into the garage to grab something off the wall.

"So- so- she's your girlfriend? Your friend who's a girl…?"

Gendry shook his head and shoved a helmet into her chest so that she had no choice but to grab it with both hands. "She's my sister," he related, not stopping until he was beside his bike to put his own helmet on.

Arya wasn't sure what she was more shocked about, the helmet or the surprise sister. She decided the helmet was more pressing.

"What's this for?" She asked.

"If you're going to ride on the bike, you need a helmet. It's the rule."

"Who says I'm riding on the bike?"

Gendry shrugged. "I guess no one, but it would look pretty stupid if I went to the zoo by myself."

Arya's eyes lit up and she nearly dropped the helmet. "You're going to the zoo? Why?"

He shrugged. "Thought you might want to see those wolves." She was in silent awe for a second, and he seemed to doubt himself. "But we don't have to go if its a bad time or-"

She practically threw the helmet on and jumped onto the bike. Gendry laughed and pushed her back so he could get in front of her to drive.

"Hold on tight," was his only warning they were leaving before he revved the engine and sped off down the street.

Arya was in awe as they sped down the street towards the zoo. She held Gendry's middle tight and let the wind rush past her. She felt like a wolf running through the forest, her pack hot on her heels.

A myriad of questions came out of her after they parked, and walked up to buy admission. He answered all of he questions as best he could, but finally silenced her when she asked to look at parts of the engine.

"I didn't mean I'd take it apart," she clarified as he paid and they were let into the welcome centre.

"That's my baby, you're lucky I'm letting you ride it, squirt," he joked as he looked around the room.

"Well Ice is my baby, so you'd better take care of it."

"You've never driven Ice."

"How do you know?"

"Because no one's been able to drive that car in 20 years."

"Well, I'm gonna be the first." She pressed her face against a cage of birds.

"I have no doubt about that," he muttered.

She pretended not to hear him. "C'mon, I thought we were here to see the wolves." She pulled on his sleeve to the mammal enclosures.

There were five wolves. They lived in an open enclosure with high fences, which Arya was happy about. The wolves deserved to see the sky at least. They had to go over a bridge to see the wolves, and Arya pressed her face against the bars that kept her from the enclosure.

"Look at them," she whispered, unsure if she was talking to herself or to Gendry.

They were playing with each other, nipping and rolling around. The alpha trotted up to the highest rock and seemed to look up, right at Arya. She looked back into those gold eyes, and nearly cried from the beauty of it. After a moment, the black one howled and her wolf hopped down to join the playing.

Arya shook her head and looked over to see Gendry staring at her. He tried to cover it up by looking back at the wolves, but she smirked.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" He whispered, clearing his throat.

"Yeah…" She turned back and watched them. "Thanks for this, Gendry."

"Don't worry about it."

She nudged his shoulder with her own. "C'mon, I'll buy you a soda."

He followed her over to the food court, where she bought two, very overpriced drinks, and they sat under an umbrella. It was half-way through her drink that she remembered the events of earlier today.

"I didn't know you had a sister," she said.

He set his jaw and played with his straw, not meeting her eyes. "Neither did I."

After a moment of silence, Arya decided he wasn't going to elaborate any further.

"Anyway, what are you doing, spying on me?" He accused.

She shrugged. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time."

He furrowed his brow and balked. "What?"

She nodded and swallowed. "You were like sixteen, and I was thirteen. My dad had been working late nights and I used to stay up until he came home. And you snuck the girl across the street from you out of her house."

Gendry made a face but then smirked at the memory. "Ros, that was her name. Gods, that was seven years ago. I didn't think anyone noticed us."

"Well, I did."

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Your big head."

Gendry laughed and swirled his drink thoughtfully. "I don't remember much about you as a kid except you'd always be trying to tag along with your brothers and I on some scheme or another. Well, you were trying to tag along with Jon, I should say."

"Hey, he's the coolest out of the three of you."

Gendry nodded. "Yeah, I'll admit that."

They finished their drinks and headed back into the zoos. They looked at the monkeys and the reptiles, and Arya was even able to pull him into the aquarium portion to look at the octopus.

"They're so slimy," he commented as the animal swirled around in it's tank.

"So cool," Ary followed up.

"Hey, it's getting late, I should probably be getting you home, squirt."

Arya conceded and Gendry dragged her back to his bike. He refused to let her drive, but she was sure she could wear him down by the end of the summer.

He dropped her off in his driveway, and took the helmet back.

"Thanks again, Gendry," she told him as he put the helmet back.

"Next time we go out, we'll have to go super crazy, maybe get you a tattoo or something."

"Do you know how basic a wolf tattoo would look?"

"I didn't say you had to get a wolf, you came up with that on your own. Besides, you're a Stark, you've got the wolf-blood, whatever that means." He walked his bike into the garage.

"I have thought about getting a tattoo…" Ary trailed off as she thought about the possibilities. "It'd drive my parents crazy though."

"So? You're already going to school out of the country and dating assassins. I would think a tattoo would come with that package."

"I'll think about it," she conceded. "Same old, same old tomorrow?"

He nodded as he went into the house. "I'll see you tomorrow, squirt."

"Whatever you say, bull-face."

* * *

"What's your most embarrassing story?" Arya asked him. She'd graduated from sitting a chair across the room to leaning against the side of the car, peeking under the hood.

"What kind of question is that?" The question bounced off the metal in the hood and sounded louder than he'd meant.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Isn't that the sort of thing people ask to get to know each other better?"

"I'd say if we don't know each other pretty well by now, I doubt one question is going to change that."

She groaned. "Fine, I'll go first."

"Lemme guess, you tripped and fell on the playground when you were a kid."

"No!"

He poked his head out from under the hood and looked down at her. His look plainly said he didn't believe her.

"Well, I probably did when I was a kid, but that's not my most embarrassing story," she conceded.

"I wouldn't think you'd ever get embarrassed over anything, squirt." He stuck his head back under the hood.

"I get embarrassed just like everyone else, bull-face. It's you who's got the iron gauntlet, not letting any emotion go through."

He pulled his head back from under the hood, and Arya finally realized how close the two of them were. His brow and face was slick with sweat, but he still had his shirt and jeans on. Her heart was beating fast and was he leaning in closer to her? Because it definitely felt like he was leaning in closer. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she recognized that anyone could walk in and see the two of them. But she didn't care.

She could feel his hot breath on her face and her eyes fluttered closed. The ringing sound of her phone made them both jump. Her eyes widened and she took a step back. He stood up straight and turned around. She grabbed her phone and did her best to end the call. She wasn't sure who it was, but she could kill them for taking this chance away from her. This chance, that may not come again. Her phone buzzed one more time with a text.

 _Hey, I'm going to be in town for this week. Wanna hang out?_

Ned Dayne's text couldn't have come at a more inconvenient time.

"Hey, Horseface, how's it shaking?" Robb's voice came from up the drive as he walked from his car, cementing that this was the worst day of her life.

"Hey," she greeted. "What're you doing here? Don't you have your own house?"

Robb laughed and waved at Gendry. "How's the car coming?"

"Not well, I don't know how much more I can do."

"Well, it's always been a junk pile, and-"

Arya's mouth fell open to defend the car, but Gendry beat her to it.

"I wouldn't call it a junk pile, Stark." He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled.

Robb laughed half-heartedly and moved towards the door. "Well, either way, if you can do much in a month, what can be done? I'll see you for dinner, Arya. Will you Jon us, Gendry?"

Gendry shook his head and put his tools back in his toolbox. "I'd better get going. I'll see you both later."

She could kill Robb right at that moment. She was hoping her death-vibe got to him so he would leave her alone, but no luck.

"You should really be leaving him alone, Arya. He's got enough on his plate without you hanging around him every second."

Afterwards, she realized it was a bit much to jump on your eldest brother and punch him in the face. Especially since he was nearly twice as big as her.

* * *

"So, tell me again, why are you banished from the house today?" Ned asked, turning into the mall parking lot.

She humphed. "Robb and I got in a fight."

"Ah, siblings," he sighed with a laugh. "I can relate, really." He spoke with a hint of a laugh, Ned Dayne was an only child.

"Hey, not all of us can be so lucky."

"Relax, Arya. You're lucky to have siblings, believe me. And besides, you Starks are pack hunters, best if you're not left alone."

She grumbled as he found a parking space. They went into the mall, side by side. Arya usually avoided the place like the plague, as it was Sansa's most frequent hunting place for dates, but there wasn't much she wouldn't do for her only friend from high school. The one who followed her over to BTech just for the hell of it, though, for aerospace instead of mechanical engineering.

"So why are you banished if you got in a fight? I mean, usually parents keep you in for that," Ned commented, watching Arya warily.

"My parents are anything but usual," Arya replied, not meeting Ned's eyes. "They just wanted me to get out of the house more."

"It is true you're usually a homebody, but why now? I mean, you just got back in town from Braavos of all places."

She grumbled in reply.

"C'mon, Arry, spill."

She sighed. "Do you remember that guy that lived across from me? The Waters kid?"

"Gendry? Yeah, I remember him. Why?"

"He's working on Ice-"

"About time someone worked on that fine piece of machinery."

"-And I was trying to help him, and…" She trailed off.

"And…" Ned prompted.

"My parents just don't want me to bother him, that's it."

Ned raised his eyebrows and set his jaw. "That's all? That's the big secret of why you decided to grace me with your presence?"

"Oh shut up, it's not like I don't see you nearly every day at BTech."

They shared a laugh and kept walking through the mall. "But seriously, there's more to it Arya, isn't there?"

She grumbled again and didn't meet his eyes.

Ned stopped abruptly, causing Arya to stumble and nearly fall.

"Seven hells, Arya, you _like_ him!" Ned exclaimed, causing Arya's whole face to turn red.

"N- no I do not!" She whisper-shouted.

"You do, you so do!" Ned practically sang. "Gods, after Jaquen I thought you'd sworn off men for the rest of your life."

"I did not! And Jaquen does not fit into this equation at all."

"Well anyways, I gotta meet this guy. I need to be able to picture his face when I live vicariously through your dates."

Arya laughed and shook her head. "Well, thus far there is nothing to live vicariously through, and I wouldn't get your hopes up, if I were you."

"Too late!"

Ned proceeded to tease Arya for the rest of the day, but was silent about it on the way home. Arya wasn't sure why until they got home and he asked if he could hang out at her house. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Why?" She demanded.

"I just- I wanna bit of your mother's famous cooking."

"You wanna see Gendry don't you."

"No, no why would I wanna-" Ned cut himself off abruptly by jumping out of the car and sprinting to the garage. Arya shrieked and jumped out, following hot on his heels.

Ned beat her. He stood in the threshold of the garage, staring at Gendry leaning over Ice's engine. Ned nodded approvingly and leaned over to whisper to her.

"Not bad, not bad," he commented. Gendry apparently heard them because he flinched, stood up straight and turned to face the two of them. "Wow, he's intimidating, remind me not to get on his bad side." Arya coughed and elbowed him, but it only angered Gendry more.

"What am I, a circus attraction?" He demanded of Ned.

"Gendry, this is my friend Ned Dayne from school," Arya said, stepping in between the two of them to (hopefully) save Ned's pretty face. "Ned, this is Gendry Waters."

"'Sup?" Ned related, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Not much, what're you doing staring at me?" Gendry practically barked at Ned.

Ned shrugged. "Just didn't expect you here, is all."

"Well, I'm here, so I suggest you leave." Gendry turned back to the car.

Arya pulled Ned towards the door, praying to every deity she knew that Ned would keep his mouth shut. "Will I see you tomorrow, Gendry?" She asked, hoping he couldn't detect her stress and desperation.

"I dunno, maybe, there's not a lot more I can do."

Arya pulled Ned into the house and had to stop herself from strangling him.

"I like him! He's perfect for you!" Ned exclaimed, a huge smile on his face.

"You're hopeless!" She shouted at him, marching to her room.

* * *

"I just think that if he really wanted me, he would've said something by now," Arya confessed, laying back on her bed. Ned was laying on the floor, his feet by her head. They'd assumed this position and soon began to spill the contents of their souls which best friends often did after not speaking for a while.

"At least you have a prospect, I haven't found anyone in a while."

"You'll find someone, Ned." She was silent for a moment. "Maybe I should just make the first move…I mean, guys like that, right?"

Ned scoffed. "Some do, some don't. He seemed to me to be a pretty macho guy, though."

"He's not, at least not in a traditional sense."

"Whatever you say…"

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"He kills you."

"Why would that happen though? How would that happen?"

"Well, he could take such great offense to you asking him out that he kills you with his bare hands."

"Is that why you can't get a girlfriend? You just assume if you ask them, they'll kill you?"

Ned shrugged. "Maybe, would make a lot of sense."

They were silent again.

"Do you think he's still here?"

Arya broke the spell by sitting up and peering out of her window to look out. "No, his motorcycle's not around, he's probably out on the town or something."

"He has a motorcycle? Could he get any cooler?"

Arya laughed. "I dunno, Ned, maybe you should date him."

"I'm sincerely thinking about it."

Arya smiled and looked back out the window. Maybe she would ask tomorrow.

* * *

Gendry wasn't there the next day or the day after that. A week went by and he didn't come by the house once. She went out with Ned a few more times before he went back to Braavos to finish his internship before the next semester. He made her promise to tell any details that happened with Gendry, but so far, there was nothing to relate. Sometimes his motorcycle was in his driveway, and sometimes it wasn't. But she never saw him move it. She was sad for a few days, and then she was angry. Though theirs was not the love story for the age, she'd thought she'd meant more than the silence he was giving her.

The silence was finally broken a month before she was going back to school. For once, she was alone in the house. Her parents had taken Rickon to the store to pick out new clothes since his crazy dog had chewed all his up, taking Bran with them. Sansa was off either with her latest boyfriend or with Jeyne Poole. Jon was working, Robb was at his own house (for once), and that left Arya to be all by her lonesome in her family's big house. She never noticed how big it was until she was by herself. Every other time there were parents or children or relations or dogs running around every corner. But with it empty, the whole house felt like a tomb.

The doorbell ringing followed by a knock broke her out of her morbid thoughts. She went to open it without looking through the peephole, thinking it must be a package someone ordered. But instead there was Gendry, standing expectantly on the front porch. His face morphed from placid to something unintelligible when he saw it was her.

She gripped the door to keep herself from slamming it in his face.

Gendry finally broke the silence. "Hello, Arya."

"Hello, Gendry."

"I need to speak with your father."

"He's- he's out, with my mother and Bran and Rickon."

"Oh…" He looked out over the lawn. "When will they be back?"

She shrugged. "I dunno, they didn't say."

"Well…I'm sure you're busy so I'll leave you." He turned and started walking back to his house.

She shut the door behind her, walking out without her shoes on. "You're just gonna leave like you did last time, without even a proper goodbye?"

Gendry stopped but didn't turn around.

"You obviously can't do fuck-all for the car if you've been working on it for two months and haven't gotten any progress. So why did you keep coming back if it was a lost cause?"

Gendry whirled around. "That car is the best car I've ever seen, and it will never be a lost cause."

She wasn't sure if they were still talking about the car. "Then why'd you stop coming?"

He took a step towards her. "Because I might not be the right person to fix it."

"What makes you think that?" She took a step towards him.

"Well, it's not cooperating with me the way I'd like it to." Another step.

"Maybe- maybe the car is just scared of things changing." Another step.

Another step, now they were close enough they could've both reached out and touched fingertips. "I don't think cars are sentient like that." He smiled crookedly, but she frowned and took a step back. He frowned too and took a step forwards. "But- but the car has nothing to worry about, just because things would change doesn't mean it would be worse than before."

"What was wrong with before?" A step forward for her.

"Well, it must've been pretty lonely, in the garage all by itself. It deserves to be free, to be driven."

"Well…what if I- the car wanted to be free, so long as it was with you."

Gendry smirked, but not smugly. "I think it's clear I can't stop the car from getting what it wants, even if I wanted to."

She sniffled and wiped a tear out of her eye. Gods, she was the girl who cried when a guy said he liked her. She was going to have to change her name and move to Essos to live down the shame. But Gendry made her forget how embarrassed she was to cry by reaching over and cupping her right cheek. Slowly, too slowly, he kissed her, and she forgot all about Essos, and wolves, and Ice, and Ned and everything else except their entangled lips and roaming hands.

The back of her legs hit something metal and she glanced down to realize they'd slowly moved back into the garage, and were now leaning against Ice's hood. A tiny voice in the back of her mind told her this was a bad idea, but then Gendry sucked on her earlobe and all thought flew from her mind except one. He lifted her on the hood, parting her legs and pulling her body close to his.

She could honestly say that before then, Arya had never had sex on a car before then. But she supposed summer was the time to try new things, and that's all she cared about.

* * *

Her father sighed as he signed the check to Gendry.

"You tried your best, that's all that matters," he sighed, ripping the check out of the book and handed it to the young man.

"I've spoken to Tobho Mott, my boss, and he says he's willing to look at it as well…i-if that's something you'd be interested, uh, sir," Gendry stammered. He took the check, and put it in his wallet, not meeting Ned's eyes.

Ned eyed Arya who was pretending to be more interested in her shoes than the conversation.

"I think that could be arranged," Ned finally agreed. Both and Arya and Gendry's eyes lit up and they smiled, eyeing each other not-so-subtly.

"Thank you, sir. For this, and for the work, I really appreciate it," Gendry burst out, slowly walking away from the garage.

"Oh, and, son?" Ned called as Gendry was about to turn around.

"Yes, sir?"

"Do take care of my daughter, will you? It's in your best interest."

Gendry's eyes immediately widened and he turned bright red.

"W- what do-" he stammered.

"How- I don't know what you're talking about!" Arya blurted. "What makes you think-"

"Well, your outburst just told me, firstly. Secondly, if you think you're the first of your siblings to try and hide a relationship from me, Arya, you'll be sorely mistaken." He turned to go back into the house. "Oh, you're welcome to dinner, Gendry, whenever you'd like. And have her home by 11, if you'd be so kind."

"Y- yes, sir!" Gendry reassured.

They both sighed in relief when Ned disappeared in the house. Arya walked closer to Gendry, who looked white as a sheet.

"At least he didn't object," she assured.

Gendry smirked, and chortled. "That he did not." He leaned down for a kiss and nodded towards his house. "C'mon, I'll buy you some ice cream."

She ran over to his bike, hoping if she got there before him, he'd let her drive.

* * *

 **A/N: It's too sappy and I hate it...but there needs to be more Gendrya fics in the world, and dammit if I won't do my part.**

 **Brandon Zoo is named because literally fucking everything in the North has something to do with some Brandon Stark or another.**

 **I also want to mention that I attempted to not used the word "said" when the characters say something...I scoured it pretty heavily, but if I missed a few (or a lot) I'm sorry, I'll probably catch it in a later revision...just so you know**

 **anyway thanks for reading**

 **no reviews necessary**


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